Horror In Her Eyes
by MyDarlingRose
Summary: Severus uses Legilimency on Suzanne to see if she has been telling the truth about who she is, but he sees much more than expected. ONESHOT. Severus/OFC.
1. Chapter 1

''Severus, what is this about?'' asked Suzanne as Severus led her down the stone stairs to his potions room in the dungeons. Upon getting to the door her thrust it open and pushed her inside, before locking it with his wand.

He slowly advanced towards her, taking long strides before his face was mere inches away from hers.

''Sit.'' he hissed and took her by the shoulder and forced her to sit in the old wooden armchair behind her.

''I don't believe that you have been truly honest with us, Miss Rosewood.'' he turned his back to her started to do something on the table, but she couldn't quite see.

''What ever do you mean?'' she swallowed. Sitting straight, she rested her arms on the armrests casually and put on an emotionless look on her face.

He spun back around to face her, this time holding a small dark green vile between his thumb and forefinger. She looked at the vile, then at him. The blood disappeared from her face and she looked as pale as ever. _That couldn't be what I think it is..._

''Veritaserum.'' he simply said. ''As you know, the most powerful truth serum.''

Suzanne's breathing quickened but not from fear but anger, _how dare he?!_

''I don't have time for this.'' she and made her way to get up-

''Incarcerous.''

Suddenly, ropes circled around her wrists and tightened, binding her to the chair.

''What do you think you're doing?!'' she exclaimed, trying her best to free herself from the strong bonds.

''Taking precautions.'' he said, lazily walking to her.

''I have nothing to hide! Release me at once!''

''Oh really? If you didn't then why are you so strongly denying it? Surely if you didn't have anything to hide you would be willing to prove yourself…right.'' he was closer to her now and could practically feel her blood boil with fury. Suzanne glared at him but soon relaxed in the chair, receiving a slight eyebrow raise from Severus.

''So what are you going to do? Force it down my throat?'' the tone in her sarcasm was clear and he gave a slight smirk.

He swiftly moved behind her and bent down so that his lips were at her ear.

''Nonsense. That was merely a ruse to get your reaction.'' he purred, his voice deep and low that sent shivers down her spine. Swiftly getting up once more, he faced her and saw that her expression looked slightly frightened now. The gleam from her eyes had vanished, getting slowly replaced with sheer panic.

''You must of course have heard of... Legilimency?'' he slowly picked up his wand from the counter behind him.

''You wouldn't...'' she whispered.

''It's not that I wouldn't, it's more that I must. You see, I don't think you've told us -me- the honest...truth.'' as he finished he slowly lifted his wand and pointed it at Suzanne.

''Severus, don't-''

''Legilimens!'' he cried before she could finish. He heard a sharp gasp before his eyes were transported to her memories, different scenes flashed before him; slowly slowing down until eventually they started to fully show:

_She was sitting in front of a dressing table in her nightgown, her face was tear stained and a large purple bruise outlined her right eye. Her bottom lip was cut at the side and blood was dripping down her chin. She slowly brought out a handkerchief and began dabbing at the wound._

_Suddenly, a man walked up behind her and slid his hands on her shoulders, a contact that made her flinch. He bent his head down and kissed her cheek, his lips lingering upon her skin._

_''I love you.'' he whispered, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb whilst a new tear fell._

_..._

_''You're drunk.''_

_''So what?'' his words were slurred and he could barely stand, swaying on the spot, a near-empty whiskey bottle in one hand. The suit he was wearing was crumpled, his shirt was un__-__tucked and the tie he wore hung loosely around his neck, moving with the motion of his leaning body._

_''What are you doing?'' he spoke again, shuffling forward slightly._

_''Nothing.'' she whispered and shifted her body to conceal the objects behind her back._

_All of a sudden the whiskey bottle shot towards her at a frightening speed and she covered her face with her arms but it was too late. The bottle smashed on the wall beside her and shards of glass mixed in with the remaining whiskey surrounded her and tore through her blouse before digging into her skin. Blood instantly covered the white fabric and she gasped in pain, falling to the floor._

_''Don't lie to me!'' he roared and walked towards her._

_''Richard, please-'' she was cut off with a sharp slap in the face, making her head fall sideways. Clutching her cheek, she noticed small cuts caused from the glass._

_''Look at me!'' he grabbed her neck and roughly hit her head against the wall._

_''There is to be no magic used in this house! Do you understand?!'' the grip on her throat tightened and she could barely breathe._

_''Answer me!'' another slap hit her other cheek._

_''Yes.'' she choked._

_''What was that?'' his voice sounded menacing, his face was pulled into a snarl almost imitating a wolf._

_''Yes.'' she said more loudly. Letting go of her throat, he lifted himself off the ground and towered over her blood covered body before making his way out the door._

_The tears she'd been hiding now start to fall, small drops slide down her cut and now bruised face. Closing her eyes, she wept silently knowing that her nightmare will never end._

_...__..._

''_Do you, Richard, take Suzanne to be your lawful wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?'' the aged priest spoke, facing the couple in front of him. They looked perfect for each other__._

''_I do.'' the confidence in his voice stood out, placing a smug smile on his face._

''_And do you, Suzanne, take Richard to be your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?''_

_She hesitated and there was a short silence. Fingers suddenly encircled her upper arm and tightened slightly. Looking over to him, she gave a faint smile._

''_I do.''_

_During the exchanging of the rings, the priest noticed the sad look in the bride's eyes but took it as wedding jitters and shook it off with a smile towards the woman as a sign of comfort._

''_I now pronounce you man and wife, you may now kiss the bride.'' The priest said and grinned joyfully at them both, hands clasped over his bible._

_Richard turned to Suzanne and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her close and before she could even blink he crashed his lips onto hers. She could hear the priest give a sigh of content and Richard finally broke the embrace._

''_A happy marriage indeed!''_

…

_The full length mirror stood by the window. _

_She had to see them. All of them._

_Getting up from the bedside, she took slow steps towards it. Her heart was pounding from fear; her body was shaking with adrenaline. Finally reaching the cheval glass she stopped in front of it. She stared at herself for a while before gently untying her dressing gown. It was difficult at first since her hands were trembling, but soon enough she got it undone. She turned herself around so that her back was to the glass and slid the gentle fabric off her shoulders so that it landed just at her elbows, which revealed a low cut back nightgown. Closing her eyes to try and calm herself, she shifted her head sideways to take a look at the reflection. The sight she saw nearly made her faint._

_Long streaks glided on her back in all the directions possible. Still red and bloody from the nights before, and more deep than she could ever imagine. Her whole upper area just covered in the dark shade of blood, even parts of her uppers arms held miniature cuts. Lifting up her hair, she saw the large purple bruises that started at her neck and circled all the way around to her collar bone. _

_Tears were already falling from her horrified face and she let out a small whimper._

_Letting her hair fall back down, she noticed the red marks around her wrists that were also covered in small bruises._

_Falling to the floor, she fully broke-down. Tears turned to streams of liquid as she wept uncontrollably._

''_Why?'' she whispered._

Suddenly, everything faded into black smoke and Severus's eyes adjusted back into the present. Suzanne gasped once more, and her body jolted in the chair from the shock.

''Are -you- happy- now?'' she said between her heavy breathing but her tone was as cold as ever.

Severus could only look at her, for the first time lost for words. He opened his mouth to say something but just closed it straight after. The things he saw were still spinning around in his head, finally figuring her out. Why she is like this. What caused it.

He realized that he still had her tied to the chair and instantly cast the reverse spell to unbind her. The ropes disappeared and she clutched her wrists, gently rubbing them, but still wouldn't look at him.

''Suzanne, I apologize for… doing this to you-'' before he could even finish, she was already up from the chair and practically ran out the room, slamming the door behind her.

Left alone, he reflected back to her memories.

With every second he thought, he despised this Richard even more.


	2. Chapter 2

They didn't see each other till the next day, when Severus found her in the teacher's lounge late at night: Drinking.

Slowly, he advanced behind the green leather sofa she was sitting on and stared down at her. The roaring fire opposite her made her hair glow and accentuated the deep shade of brown.

''Care to join me?'' suddenly the clinking of ice against glass could be heard as she lifted her arm towards him with something in her hand. Looking closely at it, he saw that it was a crystal glass filled with what smelled like whiskey and a few ice cubes floated inside. Frowning at the drink, he took it and walked around the sofa so that he could face her, placing the drink on the coffee table next to him.

''Drinking won't solve anything.'' He said and walked a bit closer to her so that the light from fire was shielded away, covering her in his shadow.

Suzanne looked up at him through her lashes and gave a glare.

''Well, it seemed to work for him so let's give it a try, shall we?'' she said sarcastically and made her way to retrieve the abandoned drink but Severus sharply grabbed her wrist before she could.

''Don't do this to yourself.'' He said in a hushed tone and slowly moved her hand away from the glass and sat down next to her, placing her hand back onto her lap. Looking at her face, the fire reflected the shine from the wet trails that lay upon her cheeks caused by the tears that she'd shed. He spotted new ones forming at the brim of her eyes and watched as they travelled along her ivory skin. He'd never seen her like this before and it was strange to him seeing her at such a vulnerable state. She had a faraway look in her eyes and he wondered what she's thinking about.

_Probably 'him'_ he thought and was instantly transported back to her secret memories of torture and pain. How she had stayed with that man for so long he would never understand, surely love had nothing to do with it?

Reclining back to the other end of the sofa, he watched the fire burn and eat-away at the wood causing it to crackle and spark. From the corner of his eye, he saw that she too was enhanced by the fire and so they sat in a comfortable silence.

''Why did you marry him?'' he finally asked and glanced her way.

She had her elbow positioned on the arm rest with her palm facing up, chin resting against it. Her eyes were closed and for a moment he thought she was asleep, but she slowly moved her head sideways so to face him.

''Why do you care to know?''

''Do I need a reason?'' he fired back and raised an eyebrow.

She stayed quiet for a moment before sitting up straight and crossing her legs. Looking down at her lap, she played with the dark emerald ring on her right hand, making it catch the light and sparkle.

''I… It was an arranged marriage, by my father.'' Lifting her eyes to look at him, her expression was that of a bored person, but he could see the misery and hurt in her eyes.

''He knew what Richard was like.'' Now he shot his head straight up and his eyes widened slightly before narrowing back. He wanted to ask more questions, he needed more answers about this woman, but she soon got up and straightened out her waistcoat before bending down to pick up the glass full of whiskey and downing it in one shot. He watched her every move as she slammed the glass back down, she turned her back to him and made her way to leave when suddenly a hand encircled her upper arm and pulled her back.

''You deserve better.'' he whispered in her ear.

The sudden contact made her uneasy and she bit back a gasp. The grip he had on her was released and when she turned around he was gone.


End file.
